Chaosium Digest Volume 16, Number 11 Date: Sunday, October 20, 1996 Number: 1 of 2 Contents: The Adventure of the Poisoned Lake (Shannon Appel) PENDRAGON Announcement: Courts of King Arthur (Peter Corless) PENDRAGON Editor's Note: This issue, mostly a set of articles that I've written over the last few weeks. In V16.11, a new Pendragon adventure, originally run in my Talgarth campaign. Also, an announcement from Peter Corless. In V16.12, three articles on Mythos cards and rules. Send in your submissions! Shannon RECENT BOOKS OF NOTE: * Call of Cthulhu - _Miskatonic University_ (DAW, $5.99), edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Robert Weinberg, is an anthology of new stories set at Miskatonic University. A number of the stories seem to be genuine Mythos. Included authors are: Tina L. Jens, Mort Castle, Alan Rodgers, Brad Linaweaver, Jay Bonansinga, Stephen Mark Rainey, Benjamin Adams, Jane M. Lindskold, Lois H. Gresh, Billie Sue Mosiman, Will Murray, Christie Golden, and Brian McNaughton. RECENT MAGAZINE SIGHTINGS: * Call of Cthulhu - "The King of Weird", by Joyce Carol Oates, a seven page overview on Howard Lovecraft that also talks a bit about the new biography released by Necronomicon Press (see V16.6), The New York Review of Books Volume XLIII, Number 17 [October 31, 1996]. -------------------- From: "Shannon Appel" Subject: The Adventure of the Poisoned Lake System: Pendragon THE ADVENTURE OF THE POISONED LAKE [Copyright 1996, Shannon Appel] Time: Anytime Setting: The Crimson Lake, a nearby enchanted forest Problem: A Black Knight has slain a lady and poisoned her lake Characters: the lady, lake monster, an enchanted beaver Secrets: a magical fountain contains purifying waters Solutions: travel to the fountain, defeat the guardian, and purify the lake Glory: 500 (or 100) for killing the lake monster, 100 for defeating a magical beaver, 100 for purifying the Crimson Lake GAMEMASTER'S BACKGROUND This adventure centers around an enchanted place named The Crimson Lake. The Crimson Lake is a small lake no more than half-a-mile around. Despite its evocative name, it is usually murky blue-green. However, on certain nights, when the stars meet in secret conjunctions in the sky, the water turns crimson in color. This is said to mark an ancient misdeed. 5d20 Ambient, 4d20 Divination. An ancient lady has always tended the lake. She has minor prophetic powers, and has used them wisely, bringing her a position of respect in the local peasant community. Introducing the Players This adventure will have the most impact if it is played in the player's homeland. Introduce the Crimson Lake as a nearby place of power. Alternatively, if you do not have the latitude to introduce this new location to your player's home domain, it can be placed anywhere in Britain. Players will encounter the Lake while erranting, and can find the basic information listed in "Locales" by simply talking to any nearby settlers. In either case, the adventure opens for the player knights when Caidd, the young son of a local farmer breathlessly runs up to them. He'll explain in quick, short sobs that the Crimson Lake has turned black, and that the lady of the lake lies near death, and that help is desperately needed... ENCOUNTER AT THE LAKE Due to the warning of young Caidd (of some other method, perhaps even blind luck, if you prefer), the player knights will be drawn to the Crimson Lake. The scene they will come upon is not a pleasant one. The entire lake has turned a foul brownish-black color. The stench of rotting corpses hangs over it, like a cloud. Players who fail [Con] rolls as they approach will feel ill, and will be at -5 to all rolls until they leave the area of the lake. Lying perhaps twenty feet from the edge of the Crimson Lake is its ancient lady. The ground around her is stained red with her blood. At first, it is not obvious whether she lives or not. The Lady As the players approach the Lady, they will see that she has been struck a mortal wound with a great sword. Feeble movements show that the barest spark of life still remains within her, which should amaze the players, for her wound looks quite mortal. In truth, the lady was struck down the previous day, and should have died at midnight; she has kept herself alive mainly by force of will, so that she can give warning and demand retribution before she dies. When the players approach near to the Lady, she will move her cracked lips one final time, offering up a litany of horror and sin: "Knights. Good knights. I knew you would come. The Other World calls loudly to me now, but I have held on to this one for a short time, so that I might give a last testimony of what has occured here. "It was a knight, dressed entirely in black who came here. I could not see his face, for shadows clung to it like familiar lovers. Within him there was a burning ember of evil, and by that token I will recognise him ever more. "The knight came here on a mission of destruction, and when I tried to interfere, he struck me down as if I were nothing. And then, he returned to his dark deed, and the lake, the poor lake, it began to boil with the same vileness that the knight possessed. "I must ask you one favor before I depart. In the nearby woods, the woods that have been long ago enchanted by their proximity to my lake, there is a natural spring. Creudylad's water bubbles up from it. The water is clean and pure, and said to destroy any poison, turning it back upon itself. There are guardians over the spring, powerful protectors, but you can overcome them, I am sure. Promise to me that you will seek out Creudylad's Water and try to purify my lake. Swear it!" With that, having expended her last bit of strength, the Lady will slump to the ground. If one of the players swears an oath within the next minute, she will die with a smile on her face (give that player a [Generous] or [Merciful] check, as appropriate). If no promises are made, she departs for her eternal rest wearning a sad frown. The Monster It is likely that at some point, either before or after speaking with the Lady, one of the players will aproach within ten feet of the lake. At this point, the tentacles of a horrific monster burst forth. It is the vileness of the lake personified, and it will fight to the death. Evil Lake Monster A monstrous octopoid creature, intent solely upon death and destruction. SIZ 40 Move 2 Major Wound 80 DEX 10 Dam * Unconscious 0 STR 40 Heal ** Knock Down 40 CON 40 HP 80 Armor 4 * The Evil Lake Monster has three different forms of attack (see below). ** The Evil Lake Monster heals all of its HP at midnight. Combat Skills: Each round, the Evil Lake Monster gets 1D6+2 attacks (minus one per person it is currently suffocating), split randomly among the following types: RANDOM ATTACK (D6) 1-2: Grapple 10, oppose DEX:DEX to drag player into water when attacked; oppose DEX:DEX each round to break free. Starting with the round after the initial attack, the victim is suffocating (see Pendragon pg. 185) 3-4: Pummel 10, Damage 8D6 5-6: Spash Noxious Water 10, [Con] or be -10 to fighting for 1D6 rounds. Other Skills: Hide in Brownish-Black Lakes 39 Modifier to Valorous: -5 Glory to Kill: 500 (in combat) / 100 (by cleansing lake) If the player knights manage to avoid the Evil Lake Monster on their initial visit to the Lake, they will surely encounter it when trying to purify the lake (see RETURN TO THE LAKE, below). Onwards It is most likely at this point that player knights will be prepared to sojourn into the nearby enchanted woods to search out Credylad's Spring. However, they could go searching for the black knight, or embark upon some other mission. Depending on their precise decision, checks in [Honor], [Pious], [Forgiving] or [Vengeful] may be appropriate. THE QUEST FOR CREUDYLAD'S SPRING The Lady's information concerning Creudylad's Spring was not very explicit. However, knights learned in the ways of Fay may know more about it. [Faerie Lore. Success = The character has heard of the spring, and has a vague idea of where it is (Hunting roll is at -5). Critical = The character has heard of the spring, and has a very good idea of where it is (normal Hunting roll). He also has heard some tales of the Maiden Creudylad, an ancient Pagan Goddess. See Pendragon pg. 218.] If the players are not learned in Faerie Lore, they will need to seek out someone who is. This may require an adventure in itself. Once the players have managed to get a general indication of the spring's location, they will need go forth into the enchanted woods, and Hunt for it. Into the Enchanted Woods The players must decide who will [Hunt] for their group. [Hunting (-5). Success = After a hard day's hunt, you come upon the Spring. Failure = You spend a day fruitlessly searching.] Alternatively, the players may decide to stumble wildly into the woods, hoping to find the spring by luck. They are dark and dense, but after 2D6 days, the players will be succesful. For each full day the players search for the magical spring, roll once on the Enchanted Woods Encounter Table. ENCHANTED WOODS ENCOUNTER TABLE 1-5 No encounter. 6-10 Cross trail of game, Pendragon pg. 339-341 (Roll 1d6. 1: Bear, 2: Boar, 3: Bull, 4: Red Deer, 5: Fallow Deer, 6: Roe Deer). 11 Mischievous creature from the Other Side steals a random item from a random knight. 12 Boar of unnatural intelligence (Pendragon pg. 339-340) tries to stalk players, and seeks to draw away stragglers. 13 Panther (Pendragon pg. 342) observes players. [Awareness] to spo itt. It only is aggressive if attacked. 14 Random knight's horse becomes dendrophobic (afraid of trees) due to a maleovolent faerie's curse. 15 Yale (Pendragon pg. 343). 16 Scared peasant from a nearby land is lost in the woods, and seeks aid [Trusting/Suspicious]. 17 Traitorous peasant from a nearby land pretends to be lost in the woods, and asks for aid [Trusting/Suspicious]. If given the chance, he may kill knights, or make off with loot (use Bandit, Pendragon pg. 330). 18 1-4 Wakened Trees attack players: WAKENED TREE Armor 10 HP 30* Combat Skills: Limb Thrash (x2) 10, Damage 4d6** * Not susceptible to major wounds; fights until 0 HP. ** Can not Critical. 19 A horse tainted by the faerie magic of the woods approaches the players peacefully, but then tries to eat one (Use Charger stats, page 339, but add the attack "Bite with Sharp Teeth 15, Damage 6d6"). 20 Demonic Dog searches for prey (use Lion stats, Pendragon pg. 342 -- it is a coal black dog, with burning red eyes). [Religion (Christianity). Success = this dog was clearly born in Hell.] Glory: varies by encounter The Glade of the Spring Eventually, after a bit of searching, players will come upon the Glade of the Spring. No matter what the season beyond the glade, inside everything is always blooming with new life. As the player knights enter the glade, perhaps looking warily about, they will be greeted by a low squeaky voice: "Excuse me! Excuse me! You aren't supposed to be here. No sir. Sorry, no visitors allowed. Away! Away!" The possessor of this voice is quite amazingly a beaver. To be precise, a small (2' tall) bipedal beaver, dressed in velvet foppish finery. The beaver, a nameless fellow, is the guardian of the glade. He will explain quite clearly and concisely that no one is allowed in the Glade of the Spring except for the priests of Creudylad (which the PCs clearly aren't; none have been seen in years) and that they'll have to leave. If they don't, he threatens that there will be a "terrible gnashing of teeth" During this initial dialogue, you should do your best to make the players fear the cute Beaver. Play up his two most dangerous attributes. First, he moves lightning quick, so fast that the eye can't even follow him. Whenever a player blinks, the nameless Beaver is elsewhere. Second, his teeth are quite deadly. Have him demonstrate by chopping a big limb off a tree with one bite, and point out that could have been an arm or leg. The Beaver really doesn't like hurting people, and thus he'll try and convince the players to leave. If pressed, he'll sigh and say that a player can win proper admittance to the grove by passing the Three Tests: Wit, Whim and Will. If at any time a player forces the Beaver to gnash his teeth, either by trying to get the water of the spring unbidden or by failing one of the three tests, the Beaver will launch a blindingly-fast attack, leaving the players no room for reaction. The poor victim instantly takes a Major Wound, and doubtless falls to the ground. The Tests of Wit, Whim, Will Only one knight may attempt the Tests of Wit, Whim and Will at a time, and the beaver will brook absolutely no interference from others. If the contestant fails, there will be a "terrible gnashing of teeth". But, if the players insist, the Beaver will reluctantly move forward. The Test of Wit is simply a Riddle. If the player answers correctly, he wins. Otherwise, teeth gnash. RANDOM RIDDLE TABLE 1. When young, I am sweet in the sun. When middle-aged, I make you gay. When old, I am valued more than ever. [wine] 2. If you break me I do not stop working, If you touch me I may be snared, If you lose me Nothing will matter. [heart] 3. My life can be measured in hours, I serve by being devoured. Thin, I am quick Fat, I am slow Wind is my foe. [candle] 4. Half-way up the hill, I see thee at last Lying beneath me with thy sounds and sights -- A city in the twilight, dim and vast, With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights. [the past] 5. I am, in truth, a yellow fork From tables in the sky By inadvertent fingers dropped The awful cutlery. Of mansions never quite disclosed And never quite concealed The apparatus of the dark To ignorance revealed. [lightning] 6. I drive men mad For love of me, Easily beaten, Never free. [gold] The Test of Whim is exactly that, a test of the Beaver's whim. He states it as such: "Give me a proper name". The Beaver will accept any proper Cymric name, but if he is offered something else (eg, a Roman Name, a Christian name, etc): gnash, gnash. The final Test, of Will, is both the simplest and the hardest. The Beaver says: "You have Wit! You understand Whim! You may take the water if you Will! But, but, but, be warned! If you take the water, there will come a day when your first-born son is called upon to pay a very heavy price! Choose! Will or Won't!" Checks in [Loyalty (Lord)] (if the Crimson Lake is within the lands of the PC's lord) or [Honor] (if the PC swore to try and purify the lake) may be appropriate if the PC takes the water anyways. A check in [Love (Family)] may be appropriate if the water is left behind. The Beaver will not gnash if a player knight turns back at the Test of Will but he will announce that the PC has lost the contests, and must step back. Multiple players may try these tests, one at a time. A random riddle should be used for each Tests of Wit. The Beaver will require a new name for each Test of Whim. Eventually, the PCs will either win the spring's water, or be forced to return home and heal. Glory: 100 for winning the Test of Wit, Whim and Will. 20 each for just winning some of the Tests. Not Out of the Woods Yet After leaving the Spring, the player knights will be ready to leave the woods. Unfortunately, the dark woods are a confusing place. [Hunting. Success = You make it out of the woods. Failure = You are lost for the day.] Continue rolling on the Enchanted Woods Encounter Table each day the players are lost. RETURN TO THE LAKE Once at the lake, it is simplicity itself to pour the magical spring water into the lake. A miraculous transformation will occur, and the lake will be purified in a matter of moments. However, if the Lake Monster has not yet been slain, it will have to be dealt with. The water can not be poured into the lake while the Monster lives unless a player is willing to take grave chances. Warn that it is nearly suicidal to run straight into the monster's grasp, but allow the player the option if he wishes. A player rushing towards the lake must oppose his [Dex] to any and all Lake Monster attacks that round. If he achieves a Partial Success or less, he is hit; if he achieves a Total Success, he avoids that attack. Of course, the player may not be too offended if he is dragged into the lake. No doubt, the purifying spring water will disperse as the player drowns. Once the spring water hits the lake, the Lake Monster will automatically begin taking 10 points of Damage a round, no armor. Glory: 100 for each player who helped purify the lake. FUTURE STORY IDEAS Further adventures may come out of this one. * The Black Knight - The question still remains: who was the black knight, and why did he poison the lake? This plot can be best dealt with if it is left to linger in the background of other adventures: the black knight may become responsible for many of the woes of Britain in the weeks to come. Finally, when the players catch up with him, they will face a deadly battle. The black knight is a former lord who has been possessed by the evil of a demonic sword. Not only will the players have to face the moral quandry of striking down a peer of the land, if they decide too, they shall have to face his demonic power. * The Beaver's Promise - 15 to 30 years down the road, the first-born son of the player who won the Test of Will will be called upon to fulfill his father's promise. The last priest of Creudylad will request he discover an ancient artifact of the goddess, to help revitalize her nearly dead religion. Not only will the quest be a very dangerous one, but if this first-born son is a Christian, he will have to weigh his [Honor] against his [Pious]. -------------------- From: Peter Corless Subject: Announcement: Courts of King Arthur System: Pendragon Greetings Lords and Ladies! For all the folks who are interested in seeing the results of many year's labours, or are interested in helping get this puppy out the door, here's where the latest and greatest can be found: Pendragon: The Courts of King Arthur http://www.employees.org/~pcorless/pendragon/ The things we need a lot more of are: * Character Histories (Who were these people? What did they do?) * Timelines (Can you match these events into a coherent Pendragon calendar?) * Clans & Family Trees (Who were they related to? What was their clan like?) * Personality Treatments (How did a character behave? Habits/Quirks?) * Character Sheets (Stats/Traits/Passions/Skills/Possessions/etc.) * Finishing Touches (Editing! Continuity/Sanity Checking! Proofreading! Kibitzing! Comments! Playtesting!) To date, here's what we have: The Courts of King Arthur - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Introduction to the Courts & Clans -- PC Characters Kings of the Realm King Arthur Pendragon, King of the Britons -- PC King Anguish of Ireland -- TF King Uriens of Gorre -- TF Knights of the Round Table Sir Lancelot du Lak -- PC Sir Tristram of Lyonesse -- PC Sir Kay, the Seneschal -- TF Sir Cador, Duke of Cornwall -- TF Duke Corneus -- TF Sir Sagramore le Desirous -- TF Other Personages Merlin the Magician -- PC Authors and Contributors PC = Peter Corless pcorless@cisco.com TF = Timothy Ferguson Timothy.Ferguson@jcu.edu.au Still to come: -------------- 1) Filemaker database of all literary occurances of characters in Malory. (Having trouble posting it so it doesn't get corrupted in file transfer.) 2) Excel & HTML-based forms to generate character sheets. (Same deal; upload issues) 3) Family Trees -- a "Who's Who" in Arthur's world at a glance, all the way back to Nascien, Mordrains, and the elusive Joseph of Arimethea. 4) More characters, of course... Check in on occasions, and keep nudging me. As well, much of this info may be used in the LARP at Gloranthacon ("The Christmas Tourney"), so if you plan on attending, feel free to bone up. Enjoy, and let me know if you have any comments on our work, or wish to submit some of your own. Again, you may retain all rights to your works if they are not used in the final publication. At your service! -Peter Corless. -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial electronic 'zine about Chaosium's Games. In no way should it be considered representative of the views or beliefs of Chaosium Inc. To submit an article, subscribe or unsubscribe, mail to: appel@erzo.org. The old digests are archived on ftp.csua.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium, and may be retrieved via FTP.